The room fell silent.
Then my mom broke it, her voice softer now, but still sharp. “Ariella, be reasonable for once. I’m doing this for you. For your dad. For myself too, yes—but also for the entire Costa timeline. Didn’t we tell you everything? We laid it all out. Why are you being so stubborn?”
I blinked at her, stunned. “I’m being stubborn? After everything you just said?” My voice trembled, not with weakness but with rage. “I thought you loved Dad. But now I’m really starting to question the love between the two of you. Have you ever loved him? Ever?”
And that was when my father finally decided to speak.
“Ariella,” he said gently.
I turned to him, my chest tight. I was angry. I was sad. I was hurting for him—for the man who had always put his heart and soul into our family, only t
